Deal Means Kings Will Stay in Sacramento

The Sacramento Kings struck a deal on naming rights for Arco Arena and formally accepted the terms of a $70-million loan offered by the Sacramento City Council.

“The Sacramento Kings are going to stay in Sacramento,” team owner Jim Thomas told council members.

Before he could accept the loan, Thomas had to raise $20 million through an agreement on naming rights for Arco Arena, the Kings’ nine-year-old home court.

Thomas, a Los Angeles businessman, had originally faced a Feb. 15 deadline for reaching the naming rights agreement, and the loan offer officially expired over the weekend when that deadline was not met. Council members voted, 5-2, to extend the deadline to Tuesday.